Newcastle Eagles veteran Ian Whyte is ready to pursue a new career - as a football players' agent.

Newcastle Eagles veteran Ian Whyte is ready to pursue a new career - as a football players' agent.

The Chronicle can reveal that the former England basketball international star has passed the Football Association's players' agent exams in London.

And the bad news for the Eagles is that Whyte, who has gone into business with a lawyer specialising in contract law, is considering retiring from basketball to concentrate on his new career.

"The exam was very, very tough but I have cleared the final hurdle enabling me to get my players' agent's licence," he said.

Whyte knows that sports agents are universally disliked - Sir Bobby Robson is known to have little time for them and he is certainly not alone in that respect.

But he feels that he has learned enough from his own dealings with agents to enable him to approach the job in a different way.

"I have dealt with a lot of agents during my career and I don't have a good word to say about a lot of them," he said.

"I was reading an article recently in which the wife of a sports agent was quoted as saying she told people her husband was a KwikFit fitter because it was more socially acceptable than being a sports agent.

"We hope to change all that by doing the job with integrity and honesty.

"If you look in the news archives they are full of articles about deals which have broken down because of the unreasonable demands of the agent.

"But that's not the way to do deals. You don't break the deal - you've got to make it happen."

Whyte, whose agency will open its doors to people involved in sports other than football, feels that he knows what sports stars are looking for from an agent.

"It's not just a question of turning up once a year to make sure the contract is signed," he said. "It is about showing an avid interest in the progress and the success of the player concerned in whatever sport they are involved.

"We want to help them to take steps up the ladder to success without falling down, giving them advice on all aspects of their career from training to financial matters such as insurance.

"We hope to provide everything that a sportsperson would want under one roof."

Whyte and his partner, who have got a couple of potential clients lined up, believe that they have found a way to avoid having to stump up a massive bond of 100,000 Swiss francs normally demanded from agents by UEFA.

"As we are setting up as a proper limited company we can get indemnity insurance and we won't have to stump up 100,000 Swiss francs which would be prohibitive," he explained.

"We are very excited about the business. It is still in its infancy but we are putting a lot of work into it and we will just have to see how it goes."

And he admitted that he is tempted to call time on a basketball career after almost nine seasons playing at the top level in Britain and on the Continent during which time he has picked up 71 England caps.

"If I am asked to play again for the Eagles next season then I will think about it," he said. "I am not sure yet.

"I enjoyed last season - I even got back into the starting five at one point. But I am in touch with reality enough to realise what I am 31 now and all things must come to an end some time."